What is grid congestion?
Last checked on: 4 May 2026
In many places in the Netherlands the power grid is becoming overloaded. This is called grid congestion. Grid congestion is slowing down economic growth, housing construction and sustainability plans of businesses and public authorities. New connections or requests for more electricity may be placed on a waiting list. This page explains what grid congestion is and where and when it occurs.
What is grid congestion?
We use more and more electricity. At the same time, we use less gas. We are also generating more electricity from sustainable and renewable sources, such as solar and wind. As a result, both the consumption and generation of electricity are increasing. Our power grid is not yet equipped to handle this.
Sometimes the power grid has insufficient capacity during peak electricity demand or supply. This is called grid congestion. The power grid is unable to transport all the electricity at once and becomes overloaded.
The power grid has three levels: high-voltage, medium-voltage and low-voltage. These levels work together, just like motorways, provincial roads and local streets. If traffic on one road comes to a standstill, the other roads are also affected. In the case of electricity, a blockage of this nature does not result in congestion, but in an overload. This can cause power failures or damage.
Two types of grid congestion
Demand congestion
Grid congestion usually relates to situations in which there is too little capacity to obtain electricity: demand congestion. This occurs at times when more power is being demanded than the grid can accommodate. Such as when many devices are being used at once or when multiple businesses use a lot of electricity at the same time. Because of demand congestion, both new and existing users may be placed on a waiting list for additional grid capacity (transport capacity) and/or upgraded connections. This applies to a wide range of users, including businesses, users of charging infrastructure or new residential neighbourhoods that require additional electricity.
Generation or feed-in congestion
This type of grid congestion occurs when we generate more electricity at a given moment than the power grid can handle. This mainly occurs on sunny or windy days in areas with many solar panels and wind turbines. Generation congestion means that new solar energy facilities or wind turbines have to wait longer to connect to the power grid to feed in the electricity that they generate. Existing facilities may also not be able to feed in as much generated electricity to the power grid.
Where does grid congestion occur?
Grid operators identify areas where the power grid will soon reach full capacity. In doing so, they take current use of the power grid and what may be needed in the future into account. The extent of the problems varies between neighbourhoods and between regions. If you wish to know where the power grid capacity has reached its limits, you can do the following:
Check the capacity map (in Dutch)
The map will show you whether the power grid capacity has reached its limits in your region. If this is the case, see what options enable you (in Dutch) to continue.
Difference between high-voltage grid, medium-voltage grid and low-voltage grid
- High-voltage grid
Transports electricity over long distances, nationally and internationally. This includes electricity for large industrial companies and generated by wind farms, for instance. These users are connected to the national grid operator TenneT or the regional grid operator. - Medium-voltage grid
Transports electricity for large-scale users and medium-scale generators, such as solar parks and wind turbines. These users are connected to the regional grid operators. - Low-voltage grid
Distributes electricity to large-scale and small-scale users with a grid connection smaller than or equal to 3x250 amps (173kW). Small-scale users with a grid connection of 3x80 amps (55kW) are also connected to this grid. This includes households and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These users are also connected to the regional grid operator.
The high-voltage and medium-voltage grids in particular are susceptible to grid congestion. This results in long waiting lists for new or upgraded connections and it also puts additional pressure on the low-voltage grid. At the same time, electricity consumption on the low-voltage grid may increase due to the use of electric vehicles and heat pumps. This also increases the risk of grid congestion there.
When does grid congestion occur?
The power grid in an area with grid congestion is not overloaded all the time. Grid operators announce when they expect this to occur. Grid operators are responsible for maintaining and expanding the grid and for informing their customers.
Overloading mainly occurs at times when a high amount of electricity is consumed at the same time (peak consumption). This includes the early evening when people come home from work, or during the day when businesses run at full capacity. The power grid often has capacity outside these times. Sometimes this capacity can be used with a new flexible contract, by storing energy or by planning your consumption differently.
See all the options in the event of grid congestion (in Dutch)
- Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
- Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
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